Searches

Once you have agreed a price with the vendor, the vendor's conveyancer draws up a formal contract laying down the terms on which the seller is prepared to sell the house. As well as dealing with the price, it will prove the seller does actually own a house and states whether there are any restrictions on the use to which the property can be booked. The original oral agreement is not legally binding - the law requires that any contract to the sale of property be in writing.

Your conveyancer checks the contract to ensure that the terms are acceptable and that the seller really does own the land. They will also make several searches. These are:

Enquiries Before Contract

These are enquiries issued to the vendor in a standard form and are aimed at revealing certain facts about the property. They include:

• What services are supplied to the property
• Whether there are any existing boundary disputes
• Planning considerations
• Adverse rights affecting the property
• Any easements or covenants in the lease (stipulations which give other certain rights, such as rights of way)
• Any guarantees in existence
• Any fixtures and fittings
• Whether there has been any breach of restriction affecting the property

Local Land Charges Search

Local land charges can be divided into two areas:

1. Restrictions on the use of land or property, such as tree preservation orders or listed building orders
2. Financial charges on the land for work carried out by the local authority

Enquiries of the Local Authority

Many of these enquiries relate specifically to planning matters, whilst other elements of the search are concerned about roads and whether they are adopted and whether there are likely to be any costs falling onto property owners. Other enquiries relate to possible construction of new roads which may affect the property, the location of sewers and pipes.

Index Map Search

This discloses the title of registered land, and whether it is registered leasehold or freehold. Registered rent charges are also disclosed by the search.

Other Queries

Your conveyancer can ask the relevant authorities anything specific you would like to know, such as:

• Are there any development plans that may affect the property, such as a new road, motorway, railway line, radio or mobile phone masts, landfill sites or industrial plants?
• Have any restrictions on the use of the house being complied with? Will they affect your use of the property?
• Who owns adjacent vacant land and what degree of development would be allowed? Beware if it has been zoned for commercial activities.
• Was planning permission obtained the any building work done on the property? Does this work comply with the building regulations?
• What was the land under and surrounding the property originally used for? Watch out for industrial sites, mining, landfill, waste sites, and military use (unexploded ordnance).
• If the house is in a mining area, has it been affected by subsidence?
• Is the property is prone to flooding and has been flooded in recent years?

The object of all these investigations is to discover as much as possible about the house before you legally commit to buy. If you discover something unfavourable, you can withdraw from the transaction without any comeback from the seller. The law does not require the seller to disclose this information to you - it is up to you to find it out.